Michaela Whitbourn

Elite US college Duke University is being sued by an Australian student.

A former Sydney Grammar vice-captain is suing an elite US university after it banned him from graduation over a sexual assault allegation that did not result in a criminal charge.

Lewis Meyer McLeod, the son of Sydney-based businessman Bruce McLeod and one-time film producer Karen "Chippie" McLeod, is suing Duke University in North Carolina for breach of contract after it refused to let him graduate this month.

The lawsuit follows an Australian case involving a medical student at the University of Western Sydney who successfully challenged a decision to suspend him after a fellow student complained of "non-consensual sexual contact".

Australian student Lewis McLeod Photo: WRAL

Police in the North Carolina city of Durham investigated Mr McLeod over an alleged sexual assault of an 18-year old female student on November 14 last year but decided not to charge him.

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However, the university's Office of Student Conduct reportedly conducted its own investigation and expelled him as a result of the allegations.

Its panel reportedly found that it was "more likely than not" McLeod and the student had non-consensual sex, because she "had reached an incapacitating level of intoxication that rendered her unable to give consent to sex".

The woman alleged Mr McLeod assaulted her after they met at a popular university bar, Shooters, and took a cab to his Sigma Nu fraternity house.

Neither side appears to contest her claim that she began crying during a sexual encounter, but they differ on whether he stopped after she became upset.

Mr McLeod, a promising soccer player who trained with the Sydney FC Academy and completed the Higher School Certificate in 2009, claims he stopped immediately. He claims he was not given a chance to tell his side of the story to the university, where he was a member of the soccer team.

The psychology student says that unless he is allowed to graduate he will be unable to take up a Wall Street job offer starting in July, and without a job he will be forced to return to Australia because his student visa has expired.

Mr McLeod's father is the executive chairman of a ASX-listed company which has its main office on Macquarie Street in Sydney. It is focused on oil and gas exploration and development in the US.

His parents are divorced and his mother was in a brief but high-profile relationship with former Sydney Lord Mayor and Labor minister Frank Sartor.

In the University of Western Sydney case, the medical student - identified as "X"- complained that he had not been given a reasonable opportunity to respond before he was suspended from campus.

The Supreme Court ruled in February this year that the decision to suspend him was invalid because he had not been afforded "procedural fairness".

However, the decision did not create a precedent that a student could not be suspended from campus in similar circumstances if they were given an opportunity to respond to the allegations.

A Durham County Superior Court judge will rule on Mr McLeod's case and a decision is expected within weeks.

Mr McLeod and his family could not be reached for comment.

The case has generated a storm of publicity in Durham and Mr McLeod appears to have gone to ground by deleting his social media profiles, including Instagram and Facebook.